The Scent of Man
by willieworks01
Summary: A short story about Baby following his last meeting with Ayla at the Mamutoi summer meeting. Comments and critiques welcome.


Earth's Children is a registered trademark of Jean M. Auel and the books in the series, The Clan of the Cave Bear, The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, and Shelters of Stone. This Fan Fic is for the simple enjoyment of fans of the Earth's Children Series and myself, it has not been written for profit or to intentionally infringe on the registered trademark held by Jean M. Auel. Reproduction of this work for profit of any kind is expressly forbidden.

_**The Scent of Man**_

_A short story about Baby _

The huge lion turned one last time, looking out at the dark, smelly streaks of smoke rising up into the still air. There were people moving all over the creek banks, and beyond. One last look, the tall blonde headed woman stared at him, the warm, secure feelings inside heated up again.

"Hhng, hhng, hhng." The sounds were deep, and grew louder as he continued, building into one last earth shattering roar as he sat back on his haunches. The silence that followed was total.

All the people in the distance stopped what they were doing, staring back at him. Baby took one more look, then turned away and walked into the grass that grew increasingly taller out in front of him. He slowly sped up.

As he trotted through the tall grass the strong smells of the teeming mass of humanity behind him slowly dissipated. There were so many of them, what a huge pack they were. One smell lingered, one smell that the huge lion hoped would stay with him for a while. A long while. The scent of Mama.

""""""""""

Baby stood up and stretched his long front legs far out in front of him and arched his back down toward the ground, raising his butt up high in the process. He yawned loudly, sounding something like low pitched growl, baring his formidable teeth as his mouth gaped wide open. As he finished the yawn and straightened up, he gave himself a little tremor of a full body shake and dried grass and leaves fell off his body. There were still a few leaves stuck into the left side of his thick, shaggy reddish mane, but it was not something he would notice. He was a little stiff, it was one of the longest naps he had taken lately.

This was the third day since he had left the mass of humans, and Mama, behind. He had traveled steadily, stopping only to sleep for short naps when he tired.

The moon above was bright, and a slight breeze blew through the scattered trees on the banks of the creek. Baby leaned his head over and sniffed at his back just behind his right shoulder, though faint, her scent was still there. Baby licked at the fur, tasting the scent, it pleased and comforted him.

Looking around in the darkness, he lifted his head to sample the available smorgasbord of scents. Baby was hungry. Something interesting from the northeast got his attention, it was really just a brief whiff, but he set out following the faint scent anyway. Megaceros, tasty.

Baby's night vision was exceptional, and he took off following the faint whiffs of scent floating in occasionally on the light breezes. He roamed through the scattered trees, winding his way through the night, always keeping the light sporadic winds in his face. His steps were soft for an animal of his incredible size and weight, and he moved through the darkness with barely a sound.

Gradually as the night wore on, the scent grew slowly stronger. Baby could smell the huge deer almost all the time now, and he went into a serious stealthy approach. This slowed his progress even more.

The scent was strong now, and Baby crept low to the ground as the scattered trees thinned and the soft green grass grew taller. He saw the trees end in a narrow meadow of shoulder high swaying grass and paused to let his powerful eyes and nose take stock of the situation. Baby was especially looking for movement, of any kind.

It wasn't long before he spotted him. The megaceros was huge with long deadly antlers proudly held high over his thick, muscular upper body. Then Baby got a pleasant surprise, another slight movement and more smells. The buck stood near two full grown does and a yearling fawn that the wily buck seemed to be looking out for. They were barely visible just inside the darker shadows of the trees of the far side of the meadow. They grazed on tall grass at the edge of a shadowy tree line of evergreens and oaks in a narrow clearing at the bottom of a slight valley. The wind was in his face when it blew, but it was much more sporadic than it had been earlier in the evening.

Baby lowered his long body even more and crept forward a few cautious steps. The grass was nowhere hear high enough all the way across the field to hide him completely, so stealth would be his best ally. Moving slowly, he crept out from the darkness of the low trees and into the narrow meadow. With his belly just touching the ground, he was able to stay low enough to be very difficult to see.

His skills in hunting alone were exceptional, he had done it most of his young life. Baby missed having his companion though, he had lost her in a foolish attempt to protect a kill from a hungry bear. He crept from one tall clump of grass to the next, slowly and carefully timing his movements with the feeding of the deer.

The buck dropped his head to bite off young sprigs at the base of a tall clump of grass, and the yearling hopped playfully away from a ground tortoise, snorting. The buck jerked his head up to see what the yearling was snorting about, then chewed as he looked around their perimeter again. He and one of the females dropped their heads to eat at the same time, and Baby used the opportunity to creep several steps closer. The yearling danced around the tortoise, rushing it then hopping away in mock retreat.

Baby knew that the timing couldn't get much better, the yearling was making enough noise and being a good distraction for the others. He took a deep breath and pulled his muscular rear legs up under his body, shifting his balance and staying low as he did. With a lurch, Baby was up to top speed in four long bounds. By the fifth bound, the big buck felt him, and spun his massive antlers around to find the danger. Seeing Baby at full speed bearing down on them, he just had time to snort and take off in a drumming of hooves. The females were just a little slower to react, and the yearling watched the buck retreat for an instant before following. As he began to gain speed, Baby plowed into him full abreast knocking them both to the ground in a rolling thud.

Baby got a good grip on the side of the yearling's neck and clamped down. As he held the young megaceros down with his weight and his powerful front legs wrapped around the deer's shoulders. The young one struggled mightily at first, but without air tired very quickly. He went limp, his eyes wide and still full of fright.

The huge cave lion held on long after the yearling stilled, watching the other deer disappear into the darkness. Slowly, Baby let pressure off his powerful jaws. The deer didn't move, he was quite dead. With a powerful motion, Baby rolled the small megaceros over and sat back. After a few moments, his breathing slowed back down to normal, and Baby got up and walked a slow circle around the vanquished deer.

He began the series of low pitched grunts as he circled his meal until he built up to a full bodied roar. The night sounds stilled for a long time after the lingering sounds of the roar faded away. Baby knelt down to feed.

""""""""""

Three days later it began to rain softly as Baby crossed through a deep valley that was probably a natural levee during the spring. The waterway at the bottom was broad but shallow, and Baby had no trouble wading across never having to swim at all. The scent of other lions greeted him on the other side.

Baby was agitated at the smells, it was a full pride. Rain plays tricks with scents as they ride the breezes, and Baby was in no hurry to confront a hostile pack of his own kind. He was overly cautious as he tried to skirt around the unseen pride, changing directions often as the scents dictated.

By dawn, he was tired. Baby had last eaten two days ago, and he was hungry enough to want to get away from the pride quickly so he could hunt on his own. He pushed himself on, and as he tired further, his usually keen senses dulled with his growing weariness.

The rise was rather steep, slick with wet grass and spots of mud. Baby slipped a few times, especially as he neared the grass covered apex. The breeze was strong at the top, and Baby knew he might have messed up. The scent of lion was strong here, they were close and there were a lot of them. The scent of a kill reached him as well, causing his empty stomach to growl.

Baby trotted forward and lifted his head high over the swaying grass. A sprawling flat of grass and scrub brush spread out in front of him. A herd of old male buffalo grazed well off to the east, a pair of rhinos directly out in front of him, and the pride of lions to his west. They were close, but the wind favored Baby—for the present anyway.

A huge male with a mane wider and shaggier than Baby's ate on the largest of the two dead aurochs. At least eight females circled around him, anxiously waiting their turns, and a single female fed on the smaller aurochs. Farther out, several lions, male and female, lounged in the grass. They were obviously the young ones that had no real place yet within the pride.

The smell of blood was strong.

Turning away from the feeding lions, Baby trotted to the southeast with a purpose. He kept his body as low as he could as he tried to put some distance between himself and the pride, but it slowed him more than he would have liked.

A loud roar rolled over the flats, and baby looked back to see the old powerful male sitting up looking right at him. Several females flanked him, and he built up to another loud, ground shaking roar. Baby flinched at the sound, and stood tall as he sped up into a really fast lope.

It took a long time to get the pride behind him, but as far as Baby could tell, none of the other lions followed. The rain came down a little harder.

""""""""""

The feral hog never knew what hit him. One moment he was digging in the dark, soft earth for a bright orange carrot, the next he hurt all over and he couldn't breath. Fortunately, by the time he figured it all out darkness took him.

Baby was hungry, he hadn't eaten in almost five days, so he was extra careful stalking the hefty sized hog. Slipping up on him into the wind on the still wet grass was easy, there was a lot of brush and short trees to hide his approach.

The scent of swine was all over this creek bottom, several choices of delectably different smells. Young pigs, old pigs, so many available choices. The strong smelling onion patch Baby followed the scents through was all dug up and ravaged. It had been so easy to follow this one's trail out into the scattered brush and trees. His hunger gave him a true sense of purpose, and the effort was flawless.

For the first time in a long time, Baby did not sound out his successful hunt with a booming roar. He simply got comfortable and dug in.

""""""""""

Baby opened his eyes into narrow slits, the rising sun was already bright and his belly was so full he didn't want to move. Dried blood caked his unruly mane all around his mouth and over most of his face and fore paws. He yawned and rolled over onto his back, writhing around in the remnants of the hogs innards. He so loved the smell of a fresh kill.

The building heat of the day was already getting to be more than he wanted to endure, so he writhed about again and got up. Baby stretched his long body out, flexing his muscles and baring his long, sharp claws. He yawned again.

Standing up straight, Baby grabbed the hog by the neck and started dragging him under his long body toward a short oak with widely splayed branches. The shade was a relief and the ground still wet and cool with a soft bed of old leaves surrounding the tree trunk. Situating the hog into just the right position, Baby stretched back out beside the carcass. He pulled off a small piece of meat from under the hog's rear leg and chewed contentedly. When he finished this tasty tid-bit, he spent a little time licking the dried blood off his paws before relaxing and taking another nap.

""""""""""

It was mid-afternoon when he woke up next, and he needed to relieve himself in the worst kind of way. Baby walked a good distance away from the shade tree before doing his business and covering it up. Then walked back to the creek to get a long drink before returning to his kill.

A red fox scurried away with a long piece of meat in his mouth as Baby arrived back at his shade tree. A buzzard stood nearby, nibbling scraps from where the kill had been made. Two other of the wide winged birds sat in the upper most branches of a short tree nearby. The wind carried the scent of wolves, but Baby wasn't concerned, very little scared him.

He ate another healthy portion of the hog's rear leg, and took another nap.

""""""""""

Baby woke up again at dusk, and was greeted with an odd sight. A young, thin female lion sat upright at the site of the kill, watching his every move. She did nothing threatening, and looked ready to flee at the first sign of aggression. Her head was slightly cocked at an angle, a subtle sign of her accepting his role of dominance.

As Baby stared her down, the female lowered her front torso to just above the ground and whined softly. Baby opened his mouth, allowing his heavy tongue to loll out of the side of his mouth. His breath sounded raspy and thick. Baby made a decision, then grunted softly.

The female crept toward him, dragging her belly on the ground in a show of total submissiveness. She kept her eyes on the ground, not daring to look up at him. When she was a body length away, she stopped an rolled over, exposing her vulnerable belly to him, whining again softly.

Baby stood up, and gave his massive body a hard shake, leaves scattered off his rough, thickly haired hide as he walked around her slowly. He lowered his head and took her neck in his wide jaws, grunting. Baby held this position for a moment, then pulled back and sniffed her from one end to the other, slowly. He savored her scent, liking what he saw. She was definitely young, and small. Not necessarily scrawny, but small in stature. Then again, most lions were small compared to Baby.

With another deep pitched grunt, Baby licked her under the jaw and walked back to the hog and lay back down. The female slowly rolled over, then crawled to the opposite side of the hog carcass. She looked up into Baby's eyes, then stretched her neck out to the hog tentatively. When Baby made no adverse movement, she dug in.

He watched her every move as she ate, so neat compared to how he ate, she hardly got any blood on her face at all. When she had her fill, she got up and walked around to face Baby as she lay down in front of him. She leaned over slowly and began to clean his face with her raspy tongue.

Baby purred loudly as she worked on him, laying his head down and enjoying the gentle attention. Before long, she put him to sleep with her tender, constant caresses.

""""""""""

They got to know each other over the next two days, and finished off what all they wanted of the hog as they did. She turned out to be very attentive and smart, learning what Baby wanted and more importantly, what he didn't want.

Moving on, they traveled at a leisurely pace, following the creek. The female followed Baby correctly, a few paces behind him, but never far away.

The ground became rockier and rose gently as they headed in a mostly northeasterly direction. Mid-way through the fifth day of their travels together, Baby caught the odd scents of humans in the distance, and veered away from the smells in a more easterly direction.

The woods began to thin somewhat, and the trees that remained grew taller and fuller as they went on. Evergreens mixed with oak and alder, and the ever present cedar and patches of scrubs of every kind were scattered about all over. It made for comfortable traveling with the abundance of available shade to stop and rest as they desired.

""""""""""

Two days after first catching the scent of humans, the trees gave way to a lush, green valley of tall grasses of varying colors and textures. The far side of the valley rose up into what looked like a series of heavily wooded hills. A meandering creek of cool, clear water ran near the base of the rising hills.

The valley teemed with life. Aurochs, megaceros, antelope, deer, and a small herd of bison all grazed on the plentiful grasses and green topped grains. The usual assortment of predators were all also around, though harder to see, their scents were easily distinguishable. Hyena, wolf, fox, and even the scent of a snow leopard were all recognized.

Baby looked around, there were so many good possibilities, so many different available tastes, it was hard to choose just one. After traveling for two days nearly nonstop, the creek sounded like the best first choice, and as soon as darkness fell they crossed the valley.

The female went off exploring after they drank their fill of cool water. Baby wandered around and found a cozy spot under the cover of twin alder trees, and made himself at home.

When she returned a little while later, the female brought a young spotted fawn back with her. Except for the bite mark and deep claw marks on its rear haunches and neck, it was untouched.

Baby ate a good bit from the soft underbelly, then sat back to let his new mate have a turn. Baby was content, it was good to hunt, but it was better still when your mate did it for you.

Just before dawn, a small pack of hyenas got a little too close. Baby made quick work running them off, all he really had to do was stand up tall and look menacing, but went a little farther to make his point by lunging at them a couple of times.

Stealing this particular kill appeared a little too dangerous, and the hyenas moved on without a fight. The female lion was young enough to watch every move the older, more experienced lion made. She was learning a lot, and doing it quickly.

""""""""""

The fawn kept them fat and happy for a few days, then desiring something different, they moved up the creek to find a new meal. As they moved farther to the north, the hillside grew steeper and rockier as they went. This afforded more and better places to lounge about, and life just seemed to be getting better and better.

Stopping for a few days or more with each kill, they existed comfortably. The female filled out quickly, no longer quite so thin and bony looking, she gained weight and was looking good. She became bolder in her hunting as she grew into a more secure comfort zone with her mate.

Baby went out with her a few times to hunt, they were a formidable pair. Together they had taken a full grown aurochs cow and a megaceros buck that they ate on over several days running.

They had one encounter that was mildly threatening to them. A black bear came down off the hill under the cover of darkness and challenged them over the aurochs carcass. It was a brief encounter, black bears were the smallest of the bear species in the area, and Baby was one huge lion. One slapping face off taught the bear a lesson he would remember for a long time, it would be fully into the next season before all the hair grew back over his damaged front leg.

Other than the meeting with the bear, life in the valley was good. The lions spent more time lounging around with full bellies than anything else, and the female came into her season for the first time. Baby's first mate wasn't around long enough to come into her season, so this was all a bit new for him. Somehow though, he knew enough from instinct what to do. After a little trial and error, Baby found he kind of liked this mating stuff.

""""""""""

Baby bit down harder on the neck of the bison calf and used his powerful rear legs to lurch back up the slick hillside. The leaves were a panorama of bright colors now, both on the trees and covering the ground. It made for an interesting ascent up the steep hill and back to the deep rock indention where his mate waited.

She didn't do much hunting these days, in fact she didn't do much more than eat and sleep. Her usually thin, lithe belly was swollen and distended with her impending arrivals. They were an active group, her future cubs, moving around a lot and keeping her in a constant state of discomfort.

Baby kind of liked providing for his mate, it was an interesting diversion and role reversal. She had provided for him for so long it was almost fun for him to hunt again. The last several months up here in the hills overlooking the fertile valley had been the most pleasant of his entire adult life. By far.

The dead weight of the calf caused Baby to lose his footing again, and he slid back down the leaf covered ground for a little way again. Baby flexed his powerful muscles and extended his long, sharp claws and getting a better grip, started back up. One powerful lunge at a time, he ascended the hillside slowly and carefully.

""""""""""

Baby licked the blood off her face. When it was all gone, he continued the soft tongue massage for his own pleasure as well as her own. She purred her contentment, and rolled a little further over onto her side. Her swollen belly moved as a cub positioned himself better within the tight confines of her belly between his siblings. Baby paused as he watched the odd movement, he didn't understand very much about all this, but his instincts told him he would be the sole hunter of this soon to be growing pride for a while yet. The thought was by no means discouraging.

The leaves rustled softly from above them, and Baby quickly looked up to see a pair of ptarmigan making their way down the hill. They took their time, stopping to dig through the fallen leaves to snatch a bite to eat from time to time. Baby noticed that their feathers were changing colors, the usual motley browns now streaked with pure, snow white. These fat birds were usually hard for even a hunter with eyesight as good as Baby's to spot, but not these days.

""""""""""

The moon was nearly full, the air was cold tonight, colder even than yesterday when the winds first changed to come from out of the north. Most all of the leaves were on the ground now, only the evergreens added green to the mostly drab landscape. Everything else was a dull shade of brown or grey. Mate was very lethargic, Baby noticed, increasing more and more so especially over the last several days. Her time was undoubtably near, though how much longer was still a total, complete mystery to him.

They needed food, and Baby would leave out in a little while to get down to the wooded edge of the valley under the cover of darkness. With the ever increasing cloud cover, it should be easy to get into a decent ambush position without being seen. Without stopping to consider it, Baby knew that the wind direction was ideal for him to approach the flats without being detected by whatever probable game was closest and easiest to get to.

Baby stood up and stretched, flexing his muscles and yawning loudly. His mate looked up and purred at him, and he stooped to lick her across the face before turning to leave. She watched him go, losing sight of him quickly in the darkness, but following him by sound as he made his way down. The moon was covered by clouds at the moment, and it was really, really dark out. Before very long at all, the night was quiet again, only the distant howling of a trio of wolves giving the night sounds any character at all.

""""""""""

Baby found a really good spot between three bare bushes to lay down in. Thick with twigs, they provided good cover from all sides as Baby inched his nose through the lowest branches to see a little better. It was still pretty dark, but the sun made enough of its presence known for Baby to be able to see a few vague shapes out in front of him.

As the light increased slowly through the billowy cloud cover, Baby could taste snow in the cold, crisp air. The clouds had grown increasingly thicker during the night, now covering the sky completely and they made it a slow process for the sun to break through.

It looked like aurochs today, he thought as he was able to better make out the possibilities before him. Ascertaining his choices, they were closest and within the easiest reach from here. At least they would be as they continued feeding and worked their way a little closer that is. It would take a little while, but Baby didn't mind, a good hunter was always patient and deliberate. It had been a really, really long time since Baby had blown a hunt due to lack of patience. He cringed inside at the very thought of the shame it had caused at the time.

""""""""""

It wouldn't be long now, the aurochs had indeed moved closer throughout the early morning grazing on the many patches of dried, brown grasses. Baby was still unsure of his particular target, but he had plenty of time yet. The spotted bull kept getting his attention, though he was large enough to make it into a real chore to get him all the way back up to his mate. An animal his size would make hunting unnecessary for quite a while though, Baby reasoned, and if it snows very much at all it would be worth the struggle.

The winds grew a little more gusting as the morning wore on, coming directly from the north now exclusively. Cold and sharp, the temperature all around Baby was dropping steadily. It actually felt pretty good to the shaggy lion, now that he had his winter coat fully in.

The aurochs started acting a little nervous. It was a subtle change, and nothing in particular was obvious, but Baby noticed the change and wondered if they had detected his presence, and if so, how? Baby was ready, but was content to wait just a little longer until the big bull worked his way around a particularly fat cow. She was in the way right now, but shouldn't be for much longer.

An odd sound rang out in the quiet of the morning, and the aurochs milled around and began to bunch up quickly. The wary old spotted bull snorted loudly and looked back to the north and shook his head, emphasizing the width of his sharp horns. The aurochs started moving to the south west, slowly at first, then quicker as the odd sound rang out again.

There was something vaguely familiar about the sound, but Baby didn't have time to stop and think about it right now. He lurched forward, wondering if the aurochs bull would see him before he got close enough to bring him down. As he cleared the bushes, Baby veered sharply to his right and gained speed rapidly in a few powerful bounds.

The old bull saw him, but turned away from the huge lion to face something else. Some other dangerous predator.

Baby slowed as the bull turned away from him, this was not normal and it made Baby more than a little cautious. Then Baby saw and understood.

A tall, thin man of the Clan with light reddish brown hair ran at the bull with a thick spear in his hand. He screamed out as he approached, waving the spear in an attempt to run the bull out in front of him and to turn him back toward the valley center.

The aurochs did indeed turn, directly away from Baby and cutting his chances to nil as he did. Baby kept running, and sped up again while he changed directions radically. Charging right at the spindly looking human that had just messed up his hunt. Anger and frustration of the spoiled hunt welled up inside the huge lion, and his emotions lent him even more speed than he usually possessed.

The man of the Clan was intent on chasing the bull, and didn't see the angry lion through the tall grass clumps until he heard him. The lion grunted, low pitched and angry as he charged, and this was the sound that the man finally heard. His dark brown eyes went wide when he saw the lion, and just how close he already was. He screamed out, but there was no Clan word for what he wanted to say.

Across the valley, the other two men of the Clan were in full stride as they continued the blocking of the aurochs bull, trying to force him back to their cohorts already in place for the ambush further south. They heard their partner cry out, but the sounds were no different than they were all making as they kept running the bull. No indication of danger was noticed yet and they ran on.

Baby dodged right, then left, then lurched forward in a full leap. He crashed into the man of the Clan knocking them both to the ground in a rolling heap.

The man had his spear pulled up across his body, holding on to it tightly to try and keep Baby's huge jaws away from him. The impact of the tackle knocked the wind out of the man, and the strength in his muscular arms was already waning in the face of the massive weight and the pure force the lion was able to exert on him. He shoved forward with all his might, but the lion was simply too heavy and much too strong. He prayed to his totem to be brave, this was the end, he knew that for sure.

Baby bit down on the forearm of the man, and heard his cry of pain. Then something odd happened, and Baby froze, letting the pressure of the bite off a little bit. Baby inhaled deeply, tasting the scent of the man. It was oddly familiar, and he did it again. It was even more familiar this time.

From the west, a shout from one of the other men of the Clan rang out. Baby cut his eyes to his left and saw that the man and another one were both coming toward him, but it would be a while before they presented any danger, if they were a danger at all, that is. Baby was totally unconcerned for the moment.

Releasing the arm, Baby lifted his head up and looked at the frightened man who was now frozen stiffly in place. Baby leaned down to the young man's peach fuzz covered face and slowly licked him across the mouth, mussing his scraggly, reddish colored, new growth beard that very nearly matched the color of his unruly mane. A single thought of remembrance coursed through Baby's mind, a thought of familiarity, and it was so very comforting. Mama. This human smells just like Mama.

Baby licked the man across the face again, then nuzzled his neck with an open mouth.

The man of the Clan knew this was it, and he mentally prepared himself to leave this world gracefully. But the end didn't come, instead, what happened next would become legendary within his own Clan and many others as the story would eventually spread. The lion licked his neck, then backed off.

Baby stood up and looked at the man for a moment, then grunted once and trotted off back toward the edge of the valley floor, heading north. The scent of the man permeated Baby's entire being, and he grunted again, a little louder this time as he trotted away.

If he was patient, he could probably find other game farther north, there was still plenty of time. Baby thought about all this as he licked the sides of his mouth again. The taste of Mama. The scent of Mama. Both so very comforting.

""""""""""

"Durc!" The shout was close, and judging by the sounds of the pounding footfalls, getting closer still. "Durc" are you all right?'

The man of the Clan sat upright, gazing at the retreating lion and didn't see the signs. The repeated shouts of his companions brought him out of his private, reverent thoughts.

"Durc" are you all right?'

Durc saw the signs this time and nodded his head slowly. His arm hurt, but he was breathing much closer to normally now though his heart still pounded. He looked up as the two men of his Clan stumbled up, completely out of breath. He gave them a moment to see that he was fine and to let them catch their breath before signing.

'I am fine, though why, I'm sure I'll never know.' Then he bared his teeth in an awkward grin, something he rarely did amongst the men of his Clan.

""""""""""

Baby had no trouble at all dragging the aurochs carcass back up the hill. There had been another small herd of aurochs around the bend to the north, and Baby was a master hunter after all. It was almost dark by the time he finally reached home, and his mate growled contentedly at him as he came in.

Snow began to fall as she opened the aurochs at the tender belly. Baby sat back watching her, glad to be home from the odd, somehow satisfying day.

Baby listened to the purring sounds his mate made as she fed, she was so hungry these days that every new meal seemed to be a real pleasure for her. The side of her belly moved in a little ball that pushed out against her rounded shape. It was a satisfying sight, and Baby had a good life that could only be destined to get nothing but better. Soon.

He licked the sides of his mouth, enjoying the fact that the light scent was still there. If a lion could smile, Baby was doing it broadly right now. In fact, he did it a lot lately.

Baby sniffed his paws as he lay his massive head down, what a nice set of memories they invoked. The scent of Mama.

The scent of man.

Finis


End file.
